


gemini sun, leo rising

by gunwoong



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Humor (kind of?), M/M, Sexuality Crisis, local bi helps coworker figure out some things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-29 02:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30149421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gunwoong/pseuds/gunwoong
Summary: Haknyeon finds Jacob having a small life crisis in the bathroom at work. Which, valid. They're college students, after all. Life itself feels like an ongoing crisis when you're in college.So he tries his best to help.
Relationships: Bae Joonyoung | Jacob/Ju Haknyeon
Comments: 18
Kudos: 48
Collections: everyone loves haknyeon





	gemini sun, leo rising

**Author's Note:**

> fic #4 in my [everyone loves hak collection](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/everyoneloveshak)!
> 
> spare some hakcob, maam?
> 
> anyway, hi!! this is short and really simple but I still had so much fun writing these two... I really do think we should talk about them more often. did everyone try the hakcob? I thought the hakcob was lovely.
> 
> if you clicked on this, thank you!! <3

Haknyeon doesn’t really like the bathrooms on the third floor. 

Not that he knows the bathrooms on the other floors all that well, since he’s been mostly confined to the third floor since his internship started, but still. The one closest to the elevators is always one toilet paper roll short as a rule, and quite busy because most departments are closest to it. The one he usually makes use of is at the end of the hall, close to the large pane windows, and despite the constant smell of cigarettes that doesn’t seem to ever go away, at least there’s always some toilet paper, guaranteed.

It’s a little past 6pm when he walks in and goes for the sink, digging through his bag for his eye drops. He’s distracted enough not to notice the single locked stall until he hears it: a small but very distinct sniff.

He pauses. Another sniff follows, then a little squeak followed by a heavy _thud_ as something hits the floor. The water bottle rolls down from under the stall door, and Haknyeon picks it up just as the door opens to reveal the last person Haknyeon expected to be on the other side of it.

“Hyung?”

“Hey, Haknyeonie,” Jacob says, smile a little too anxious to be his usual bright smile. He’s clutching some toilet paper in one hand, his bag on the other, and even though his eyes look perfectly dry, the red on the tip of his nose gives him away. 

Haknyeon gives him a worried look.

“Everything alright, hyung?”

Jacob chuckles weakly. “That obvious, huh?”

“A bit, yeah.”

They don’t really know each other all that well. At least, Haknyeon doesn’t think he can say he knows Jacob, even though he’s been an intern at the next-door department for the last six months. Most of their conversations revolve around papers Haknyeon has had to bring over to him, and the microwave in the kitchen of Jacob’s department that Haknyeon and the other interns from his department use quite often.

Jacob goes for the empty sink, seeming embarrassed to have been caught in this position. And look, Haknyeon understands. He feels guilty for barging in Jacob’s secret crying time, or whatever this is, even though he’s not technically at fault here.

“It’s nothing,” Jacob says, splashing water on his face. He stares at his reflection before splashing some more water. “I mean, it’s not nothing, but it’s—It’s nothing serious.”

Haknyeon gives him a dubious look through the mirror. “You’re crying in the bathroom at work. That doesn’t sound good.”

Jacob looks even more embarrassed at that, splashing so much water on his face that Haknyeon wonders if he’s trying to drown himself. He might succeed at this rate, really. 

“Sorry, I know it’s none of my business...” Haknyeon says, tentative. “But I’m here, hyung, if you want to talk? Did something happen?” Jacob meets his eyes in the reflection just as Haknyeon says, in a lower voice: “Was it Mr Kim? Because look, we all know he’s kind of an asshat of a boss—“

“No!” Jacob interrupts him, voice cracking at the single syllable. “No, he didn’t do anything. It’s not even about work, actually. Sorry, it’s stupid, I just—“ 

He gesticulates vaguely, failing to come up with words and groaning in frustration instead. 

Haknyeon chuckles, finding the whole thing less concerning with each passing second. “Hey man, it’s ok, you don’t have to tell me—“

“No, but I want to,” Jacob whines. He turns to the paper towel dispenser and pulls exactly two sheets like the instructions suggest, despite the fact that his face is dripping wet. “It’s just so stupid.”

“Oh, I have a PhD in stupid. Try me.”

That manages to get a smile from Jacob. He stops dabbing the now soaked-through paper towels on his face and sighs. 

“I think I’m going through a small crisis.”

Haknyeon considers that, leaning his hip on the sink to get himself comfortable for what is probably going to be A Conversation. 

“Ok. What kind of crisis, though? Personal, in the family, money-related—?”

“Personal,” Jacob admits, grimacing. He then seems to regret it, covering his face with his hands and groaning again. “God, you don’t need to hear this, I’m so sorry—“

“Hyung, no, hey,” Haknyeon steps closer, touching his wrists gently to try to see his face again. “It’s alright, deep breaths.”

Jacob lets him lower his hands, staring at him as he tries to do just that, taking deep breaths with him. 

Haknyeon figures he’s had plenty of practice with small-crises-that-turn-into-sobbing-fests simply by having Youngjae as a roommate, which is why he isn’t more caught off guard by the whole situation. He puts on a friendly smile, gets ready to listen to whatever it is Jacob is going through, no matter how weird it might get, and wonders briefly if he still has candy somewhere in his bag. Candy always works wonders for him after a good cry.

But then Jacob leans in and kisses him on the lips and everything flies right out of his head.

Haknyeon doesn’t move. He doesn't dare breathe. He has no idea what’s going on for some long two seconds before Jacob pulls back abruptly.

“Oh God,” Jacob says, wide-eyed and horrified. “I’m so sorry. Haknyeonie, I’m so, so sorry—“

“It’s ok—“

“No, it’s not, I’m really sorry, that was so out of line—“

“Hyung!” Haknyeon laughs because Jacob’s nervousness is starting to rub off on him and seriously, what _is_ going on? “It’s fine. I mean, a little unexpected, but it’s ok. Any particular reason why you just kissed me, though?”

“I think I might like guys,” Jacob blurts out, then covers his mouth with a hand, then uncovers it just as fast. “Oh my God, I said it. I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe?”

Oh. 

Haknyeon knows he’s smiling, he can’t help it. In his defense, he’s trying really hard not to just go with _oh, mood_. “Is that the crisis?”

Jacob nods, still wide-eyed and guilt-stricken. 

Definitely something that asks for candy, then. Haknyeon sits on the sink and starts rummaging through his bag, “Then let’s talk about it. Yeah?”

Instead of arguing, which he looks like he might, Jacob just nods again. Then one more time for good measure before sitting on the other side of the sink, mirroring Haknyeon. 

“Yeah”, he says in the tiniest, most Jacob-ey voice. “Yeah, ok. I mean, if it’s not a bother…”

“Not at all,” Haknyeon finally finds the hard candy he has been looking for with an excited _ha!_ and hands one to Jacob as he says, “So, do you wanna hear about my crying in the bathroom first, or do you want to talk about yours first?”

“Don’t tell me you had a meltdown like this too.”

“Oh no, nothing as poetic as crying in the bathroom at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Haknyeon dismisses him with a hand, making Jacob laugh. “But I did cry in the bathroom at school.”

“Why?”

“Well, I was sixteen, right?" Haknyeon puts on his best story-telling voice, hoping that will help take Jacob's mind off fight-or-flight mode. "And I was friends with the whole school but on this particular day I was having lunch with this guy from my class I didn't know all that well when we started talking about the new kid who had just transferred from another school. And I said like, ‘he’s kinda hot’, and the guy went like ‘dude, that’s pretty gay’. Which, in retrospect, duh.”

Jacob laughs again, and Haknyeon is happy to see the tears and overall panic seem to be taking a backseat, as intended. So he keeps going. 

“Back then I wasn’t really thinking of it in terms of like, identity. I found all kinds of people pretty, that didn’t mean anything to me. But that made me stop and go ‘wait…’”

“It made you wonder,” Jacob adds in a whisper. He clearly knows what that feels like.

“Yeah. Few hours later I was in the bathroom, scared that I had somehow been lying to my then girlfriend by not knowing I was gay. Which I wasn’t, I really liked her, but the crying in the bathroom thing came before that realization,” Haknyeon finishes with a smirk. “So basically, yeah, been there, done that.”

“Got the t-shirt?”

“A year later, yeah, an atrocious thing in the colors of the bi flag that I treasured like it was the most beautiful piece of clothing I’d ever owned.”

They laugh at that. Jacob is fiddling with the candy wrapper in his hands, still nervous, but when their laughter dies down he sighs and says, “I know it’s stupid to be this worked up over it, it’s just—I thought I knew at least that, it was the _one_ thing I wasn't questioning about myself, while everything else—And what if I’m wrong? And that’s not what this is at all?”

“It’s not stupid,” Haknyeon says right away. Then, gentler because Jacob is seconds away from ripping that candy wrapper to shreds, “And it might help if you could finish those thoughts, hyung.”

Jacob chuckles. “Right, sorry. I feel like my brain is going twice as fast as my mouth right now.” He clears his throat, raises one finger, “One, I’m 24. Shouldn’t I know by now?” 

“There’s no right age for it,” Haknyeon says, shrugging. “People come out at all ages. You could be 80, that wouldn't change anything.”

“Ok,” Jacob takes a deep breath, raises another finger. “Two, what if I’m making a fuss over nothing?”

Haknyeon waits for him to expand on that. When he doesn’t, Haknyeon raises his brows. “Some context would really go a long way here, hyung.”

“Right. Let’s say I… kissed a guy.”

“Ok…”

“Not you, though. Last night. Oh, I guess I kissed two guys, then,” Jacob adds as an after-thought. “Anyway, I kissed someone last night. And I—“

“Liked it?”

“Yeah,” Jacob exhales like that single word has been lodged in his throat for a long time. “Very Katy Perry of me, I know.”

That gets another laugh out of Haknyeon, a loud one that echoes in the bathroom and reminds them of where they are. It’s still barely past 6pm, though, so Haknyeon isn’t worried about staying behind a little longer. They still have a few hours before probably being shoved out of the bathroom by a tired security guard locking up the floor.

“Are you scared you might be into that guy?”

“No, not really. He’s a friend of a friend, I barely even know him. We were hanging out at Kevin’s—that’s my friend—and the kiss was just part of this silly game we had going. But I wasn’t expecting to like it.” He’s back to crunching and stretching the candy wrapper to its very limits, staring at the opposite wall, lost in thought. “And then some stuff started to click, like, thinking back…”

“You’ve looked at guys before,” Haknyeon guesses. Jacob agrees with a tiny nod. “Are you sure you’re not into him, though?”

“Positive. We have nothing in common. I’d probably have a much better time with you than with him,” Jacob says, distractedly, before freezing in horror.

His cheeks go red as he widens his eyes, and Haknyeon tries his very best to smile and not make it seem like he wants to laugh. Because he doesn’t. Well, maybe a little bit, but he doesn’t want to laugh and make Jacob feel any more embarrassed than he already does.

“I have no idea why I just said that, I swear I’m not trying to hit on you.”

“Maybe you should be, I’m told I’m quite the catch,” Haknyeon jokes, making a face to go with it and get a laugh out of Jacob. He succeeds, even if Jacob’s cheeks still look a little red. “Besides, I make a great boyfriend. Even my ex acknowledges that, the asshole.”

He makes it sound as lighthearted as possible, even though Jacob looks at him like he can see through the jokes. “I don’t doubt that,” he says, ever so gently.

“It wasn’t that bad, really, the breakup,” Haknyeon tries to explain. “We ended on good terms. For the most part.”

Jacob squints, “For the most part?”

“He blocked me on all of my social medias."

The face Jacob pulls is enough to make Haknyeon laugh again. “That’s harsh,” he says in disbelief. “And rude!”

“Right? That’s what I get for getting into bed with an Aries.” A beat. “You’re not an Aries, are you?”

“Gemini, actually.”

“Oof. I’ll need to see the rest of that chart,” Haknyeon jokes just as Jacob’s phone buzzes with a text. “Duty calls?”

“Not really,” Jacob types something back and pockets his phone again. “It’s the friend I mentioned. He’s checking up on me, which means I think he noticed me acting weird last night...” Something seems to cross his mind, then. “Are you a Pisces, by any chance?”

Haknyeon gives him a quizzical look, “Proudly and regrettably so. Why?”

“My best friend is a Pisces. And he’s super caring, too. Not that you are—Or, I mean, you are, but I’m not saying—” Jacob stammers again, the flush coming back to his face before he hides it behind his hands. “Why does everything I say make it sound like I’m hitting on you,” he says, muffled behind his fingers.

“Because I’m super hot and you can’t help yourself,” Haknyeon says, laughing when Jacob throws the destroyed candy wrapper in his direction and the thing falls dejectedly into the sink between them before ever reaching him. 

He’s not actually trying to make a move with the jokes. He means it as just that, jokes, as a way to lighten the mood and make Jacob laugh, because he really looked like he needed it, even if it came in the form of a virtual stranger. And when Jacob shows him his gorgeous and all-teeth smile, Haknyeon is proud of himself and happy for Jacob, all in one.

What he’s not expecting, though, is for Jacob to hand him his phone.

“Can I get your number then, Mr Hot Stuff?” He says. Out of _nowhere_.

Fucking Geminis.

Jacob sees the look on his face and shrugs, defeated, “Look, I was gonna ask anyway because I’d like to be friends with you but I figured it’d sound like I was flirting _again_ so you know what? Fine. I’m gonna slut my way into this friendship if I have to.”

The laugh Haknyeon lets out is way too loud. Again. He’s sure that the departments on the other side of the building heard him, but he can’t be bothered to care. He types in his number and hands Jacob his phone back.

“You have successfully slutted your way into this friendship, congratulations.”

“Thank you very much,” Jacob says with a satisfied smile, pocketing his phone again.

He looks much more like the usual kind and smiley Jacob now. The only sign he has been crying are the still rosy tip of his nose and the bunched up paper towels he still has in one hand.

“And on a more serious note,” he adds, less cheeky but still smiling. “Thank you for this. Seriously.”

Haknyeon smiles. “Don’t mention it. And I’m here if you need to talk some more. The confusion, the second-guessing, that’s normal. You’ll figure it out, just take your time.”

Jacob holds his gaze for a moment, looking just as grateful as he sounds when he says, “Yeah, I will. Thank you.”

“We should probably head out.”

“Oh God, you’re right. What time is it?”

“A little past 6:30,” Haknyeon says, checking his phone as they get off the sink and pick up their bags. “We could probably make it to the station in ten minutes if we walk fast.”

“Yeah, we could,” Jacob says, a little distracted.

They walk side by side out of the bathroom, towards the elevators, Jacob all the time looking like he’s deep in thought. Haknyeon doesn't point it out, though, giving him as much privacy as he technically can. He busies himself with checking the notifications on his phone, using the opportunity to answer a couple of texts.

When they get to the elevators, he finally turns to Haknyeon and asks, “Do you have somewhere to be tonight?”

Haknyeon looks up from his phone, watching his face, curious. “Not really. Why?”

“Wanna go grab a beer? My treat.”

And even though Haknyeon knows this could be just Jacob taking him up on his offer, buying him a beer in exchange for a friendly ear and some advice, he doesn't think that's all this is about. Something about the smile Jacob gives him as the elevator doors ding open tells him there's probably more to it.

 _Fucking_ Geminis, man.

Haknyeon smiles back. “Sure, I'd love to. Lead the way.”

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: no aries were hurt in the writing of this fic.


End file.
